That age is when a lot of children stop needing mid-day naps (assuming they’re sleeping an appropriate amount during the night), which is why at my center we encourage rest time vs. nap time. That way children have the opportunity to lay down and nap in a peaceful environment (lights dimmed, calm music playing, etc), or to sit down and relax a bit and recharge. I always have “quiet choices” set up either at tables away from sleeping children or in grab baskets for children to take to their mats and do there—think journals and crayons, puzzles, and of course lots of books. Whatever you think would engage your students so that they aren’t trampling all over their sleeping friends and actually sitting down and resting (even if they aren’t actually sleeping).
If a child isn’t falling asleep after all that effort (I do usually try for 10-20 minutes to encourage children to lay down and “rest their eyes”), it’s likely that they aren’t tired and all you’re doing is restraining them and forcing them, which is (as you said) not good!
I understand the pressure thing but …. not like that. When I had a kid who I figured out needed pressure I patted his back pretty hard and he liked it, I saw it at another center and decided to try it so I patted his butt and back at the same time and he would even say “more” if he wanted it harder, so maybe try that because its a lot safer …
If that doesnt work, if you have enough staff bring him to another room or sit in the hallway with him in front of your classroom door (in case your coworkers need quick access to you)
If all else fails put him in a corner by himself for nap and just let him have at it, put him near the heavy sleepers who won’t wake up and just turn up your naptime music or noise super loud
If you’re in the USA, it’s illegal to physically restrain a child. And that would be considered retraining. Have you tried books and quiet toys? You can’t make them nap but you can offer alternatives. How does he nap at home?
This is not entirely true. There are times when a child needs to be restrained for their safety. The conditions of restraint require training for the adult and for the distressed child to be in immediate physical danger or to be causing harm towards self/others. Typically restraints are done with two adults. And other avenues of de-escalation should be tried first.
Restraints at nap time are completely inappropriate. Restraints done in this manner by untrained adults for obedience would likely be illegal.
Shift the goal to be quiet time in a small area rather than forcing naps. With books or a small preferred toy on his mat.
If the child needs/wants a nap, but needs physical pressure to do so, then you guys need to find a better method. Perhaps being tucked in snuggly or a weighted blanket with parental permission. Or pats on the back. Holding the child down is inappropriate.
A lightly weighted blanket helped my son sleep. He did so well that I got one for myself and I love it. My son has ADHD and his occupational therapist recommended this blanket.
I'm not an OT but from what I remember when talking to our OT about weighted items like vests or blankets is that the weighted item should be about 10% of the person's body weight and should be on for a shortish time period. So in class we'd only use a weighted vest for 30 minutes during the most challenging time of the day for the student- carpet time.
A light weighted blanket is a nice sleep tool. It's a very calming pressure.
Your Director is completely wrong. And the coworker who is saying to wrap up this child like a burrito or the other coworker physically placing weight with her legs is not acceptable. Clearly your Director isn't implementing appropriate nap time protocols at all. Basically you know this is not right, your coworkers are continuing to harm this child and admin is turning a blind eye. It's your responsibility to report this to Licensing. If you are able to take photos and share with licensing (after making the report first), then that would be helpful, but it's not necessary. What is fully required is that you make the call to the licensing authorities today or submit a report online. You will never get in trouble for doing what's right, but you may be held accountable for not reporting this.
Yes, this stuff really shouldn’t be done/ should *only* be done if the kid wants burrito’d and can’t do it themselves, or just discovered they like weight and is requesting an arm/ leg over them and they can still easily move and get away if they want (zero restraint) and you’re just temp doing it while mom/ dad/ guardian is getting them something weighted in (and even then I’d be much quicker to use a hand on the back, or two hands, if possible, or then a gentle arm nor leg. But we did have a kiddo request this until she got a weighted blanket for at daycare because they couldn’t fall asleep without the weight. And we did have one request we help burrito wrap them up. But huge difference on kid request versus restraining them!)
I had kids in my class who preferred to be burritos some days and not on others, so I would ask them as I tucked them in "Do you want to be a burrito today?" And if so, I would make it a sweet routine and say silly things softly like "burrito! Burrito! Burrito toes!" As I tucked them all the way in. That way it was their choice and it was a pleasant exchange vs forcefully wrapping up a child. I also had kids who we discovered preferred weighted blankets and in the meantime, with parent permission and child, we would rest gentle hands or pat/apply slightly deeper pressure. I like this suggestion.
Mine will ask, "Teacher Jean, can you burrito me?" Then we discuss what kind of burrito they are while I do it. Sometimes, one will say they want to be a pizza, which means to just lay the blanket over them. Lol
I like to do, “making a baby burrito, baby burrito, I’m making a baby burrito!” (A carry over song from when I make my cat a kitty purrito/ hissy burrito) but I may steal that one to do too!
I started it singing it when in the infant room, took it over to the toddlers that liked it, then back over to my babies, but I just love the sweet little routine of it 💕✨
And if I have two songs they can even choose which one they like and want to sing along with (for when I occasionally get to help with my tots!)
Please report this. This happened to my daughter at her school. My daughter w was reported by another teacher saying “please stop I won’t get up again “
Cps was called and the teacher was reported. The teacher who made the anonymous report was told by directors to not report- thankfully she still did.
The center that my kid was at turns out had a TON of issues that no one was fixing, only hiding. A lot came out during the cps investigation. It’s one of the highest rated places in my area (second most expensive)
The directors were absolutely trying to cover themselves. They also went to college with the teacher in question.
We have a child with similar issues and we just give him very very consistent options. Also, consider the child’s attendance since if they are having inconsistent nap procedures then it’s not developmentally appropriate to expect them to nap everyday and also not ok to restrain the child.
Our child has a small weighted blanket which seems to help and they are given something to do on the mat like a pop-it or a book. They won’t stay on the mat? The pop-it or book goes away unless they sit with it quietly. It took a WHILE for him to understand the routine but there NEED to be consistent, respectful, and developmentally appropriate expectations for the child or they will never get it.
Also, don’t pressure yourself too much. Take them to the director if you need to, switch off with a co teacher, do what you need to do but remember that if the child doesn’t feel respected or won’t understand what the expectations are because of inconsistency or inappropriate routine then it will always be a losing battle.
If a child refuses to nap like that at our centre, they are taken up to the teacher's office and handed over to the Assistant Director to take care of until they get tired enough to nap. She'll usually give them some quiet toys or a few books. Most of the little kids end up falling asleep on the couch after twenty minutes or so and she carries them back down to put them back in the nap room.
Nope, that's not okay at all. I also work in a 2-3 class, and absolutely kid's shouldn't be wrapped up so they're restrained and we shouldn't be forcefully holding them down like that.
It is absolutely true that some children are helped by pressure. But the pressure shouldn't be restraining! A hand resting on their back instead of patting, for instance, works for some. Or a child appropriate weighted blanket, heavy enough to provide pressure but light enough that the child is able to get out from under it themselves. The weighted blankets especially I've noticed work well for children who actually are tired but just struggle to stay still.
I have 2 kids in my classroom right now who play and get off their mats during rest time. I usually put them in opposite corners of the room with distance between themselves and other kids, along with some quiet toys (stuffed animals, dolls, puppets, books, etc). They are the very last kids we will sit with at nap, usually about 30 minutes into the rest time. This routine has helped a lot! It used to be almost impossible to get these 2 asleep. Now, they play quietly for 30 minutes and once a teacher comes to sit with them, they lie down and fall asleep relatively quickly. Nap doesn't have to be a battle!
Sometimes, a child just needs a slower transition into rest. Also, sometimes nap time has become such a power struggle that children are too stressed out to sleep!
Just a parent but maybe do soothing touches? Like make a pizza on his back or draw something and have him guess what it is?
My mom would set a timer in another room and we had to close our eyes for 15/20 minutes and if we werent asleep we could get up and play quietly until my brother woke up.
This was me in pre-k, they eventually gave me a stack of papers and scented marks. Sometimes I drew potatoes with legs (potatoes were my favorite toy) but most the time I would just huff the lemon and blueberry marker. Try giving my something quiet to do. Or buy a weighted blanket.
This doesn’t sit right with me. Some children do like being wrapped up like a burrito, or want pressure on them but legs aren’t an appropriate thing to use for that. If he needs the pressure to calm down then something like a weighted blanket or one of those stretchy sleep sacks would be a lot better. But the holding down and crying is what I find really concerning because it sounds less like “kid needs help and pressure to regulate themselves and calm down and sleep” and more like “kid is being held in place and eventually gives in and sleeps because they’re helpless to do anything else and have exhausted themselves”. With this much trouble napping I would honestly be wanting to ask parents about how much sleep the kid is getting at night, and if the pressure thing is something he also needs at home.
My first thought was what would happen to that child if there were a need to evacuate quickly. He would f be able to move to get out of the room/building. That’s a massive safety concern and should NOT happen.
Talk with his caregivers and see if he naps on the weekends or if he is done with naps. Some kids don’t need them earlier than others. Ask what his adults do if he does nap at home. How do they help him fall asleep? Is there a way to replicate that in the classroom? If he doesn’t nap, could you put him at a table or out of the way to do quiet activities? Have him have a quiet box of his own toys that stay in your room just for nap time? His being disruptive to the other kids isn’t lang but neither is restraining him.
This is not okay! We just did a training at my center, and the exact example they gave of an inappropriate situation at nap time was a teacher putting their leg over the child to get them to nap! I feel like there are two things going on here: 1) Teachers want all kids to nap, even when it’s clear they don’t want/need to. I get it! There are a lot of things to do in a day, and when kids don’t nap, it makes it harder for us! BUT we can’t force kids to nap just because it’s convenient for us! They can have books or quiet activities on their mat if they don’t sleep. They could even help the teacher(s) clean up from lunch. We need to do what’s best for the kids, not what’s best for us!
2) We don’t always want to take the time that some kids need to help them go to sleep. I used to have a child in my twos class that took a LONG time to fall asleep. He didn’t settle down easily so what I found worked best was sitting with him and taking quietly with him, reading a few books to him, and then eventually having him lay down and I would pat his back and he would fall asleep. One day another teacher was in with me at nap time and she just held him on the mat while he cried, and eventually, (out of exhaustion from crying I think) he did fall asleep, but what a horrible way to fall asleep. Who of us as adults doesn’t shift positions a little bit as we fall asleep? Kids are going to do the same! Only very young infants should be swaddled. If we know a child does usually take a nap, it’s okay to try to get them to go to sleep, but not by any means necessary.
Try turning the mat in the other direction.
If all mats are north-south turn that child's mat east-west with head up by the wall. As far from the door as possible.
It worked in several daycares that I worked at while going to school.
this sounds like it could be my old center. We had a little boy in the 2’s class that would do the same thing and I was directed to and all the other employees would roll him up snuggly in his blanket and place a leg over his while patting his back. He actually was receptive to this, he wouldn’t crying or be upset, and would usually end up fall asleep. If the child is crying or visibly upset and thrashing, you should find a different method of keeping him on his cot and at the least resting his body.
Hmmm mixed thoughts because typically I'd recommend bringing this child to do other activities during nap time if they're outgrowing it, but if somehow with all this crazy stuff they are managing to get him to nap, I'm going to assume his body actually really does need the rest and his brain is just very busy. I do like the burrito idea. Really depends how much distress this is causing for kiddo and if that's genuine distress or "I don't wanna go to bed but I'm tired" kind.
At my daycare we had 3 or 4 children who didn’t nap (2 of the parents requested they aren’t allowed to nap because they don’t go to bed until super late if they nap at daycare)
So my supervisor created a plan that would allow a staff to take the busy awake children to the outside playground (right beside the classroom) to sing songs, colour with chalk, play with balls etc
The only rule is no loud toys like musical toys(drums, bicycles with bells and no screaming/shouting because other classrooms are napping as well)
This worked well for a while until some of these children were falling asleep at the snack table from being so exhausted and we’d have to keep them awake until the parents arrived but sometimes if they fell asleep when the parents came the parents usually just shrugged it off and said “he/she must’ve needed a little extra sleep!” Then they wake them up and they go on their way
For your situation, we had one child similar to yours where they would grab whatever is around them and start throwing toys (almost hitting other sleeping children) and that’s how the outside play group formed because it was putting other children in danger and was also too overwhelming for staff in the sleep room but we talked with the parents first and came up with the idea together. Have you spoken to the parents of this child? There could be some information about home life that might help you entertain or help this child sleep a little easier
Edited to add: I forgot to mention the same child throwing toys and jumping around, we created a “quiet busy book” for them and that worked wonderfully for them because everyday we’d add a new page but their favourite was a sticky file folder page where they could collect outside things to “study and decorate” so they had twigs, tiny stones, dandelions etc and they could use them for art/craft time once everyone was awake (and it was craft time)
After introducing this busy book this child was napping for 30- 1 hour which Mom said had greatly improved the nighttime sleeping because the full 2 hour naps at daycare were not working for them at home.
I had a kiddo in my twos class who didn’t nap. She was given little tasks to help us, like folding the clothes in the dress up bin. sorting materials for afternoon projects, choosing which of her photos to send her mom in the app, etc.
while i think all children benefit from naps (i really don’t think people can grow out of rest time, i think everyone needs a rest period throughout the day), i never ever would hold my students down. i don’t even let my teachers sit with them because if you have to do all of that then clearly the child is not going to sleep, you shouldn’t have to force it. i’d try quiet activities which is what i do with my preks who don’t typically nap (although they almost all do) a book, quiet coloring, or a puzzle or just laying on their cot with a calm down toy (pop it, or other fidget toys). we also play this music that has a visual background of fish and turtles and stuff swimming, and a lot of our higher energy kids wil doze off just watching the fish swim
This is wrong on all levels... And HAS to stop! Those poor babies 😭 they will get themselves so stressed and worked up, it's not right! You must report it
That age is when a lot of children stop needing mid-day naps (assuming they’re sleeping an appropriate amount during the night), which is why at my center we encourage rest time vs. nap time. That way children have the opportunity to lay down and nap in a peaceful environment (lights dimmed, calm music playing, etc), or to sit down and relax a bit and recharge. I always have “quiet choices” set up either at tables away from sleeping children or in grab baskets for children to take to their mats and do there—think journals and crayons, puzzles, and of course lots of books. Whatever you think would engage your students so that they aren’t trampling all over their sleeping friends and actually sitting down and resting (even if they aren’t actually sleeping). If a child isn’t falling asleep after all that effort (I do usually try for 10-20 minutes to encourage children to lay down and “rest their eyes”), it’s likely that they aren’t tired and all you’re doing is restraining them and forcing them, which is (as you said) not good!
I understand the pressure thing but …. not like that. When I had a kid who I figured out needed pressure I patted his back pretty hard and he liked it, I saw it at another center and decided to try it so I patted his butt and back at the same time and he would even say “more” if he wanted it harder, so maybe try that because its a lot safer … If that doesnt work, if you have enough staff bring him to another room or sit in the hallway with him in front of your classroom door (in case your coworkers need quick access to you) If all else fails put him in a corner by himself for nap and just let him have at it, put him near the heavy sleepers who won’t wake up and just turn up your naptime music or noise super loud
If you’re in the USA, it’s illegal to physically restrain a child. And that would be considered retraining. Have you tried books and quiet toys? You can’t make them nap but you can offer alternatives. How does he nap at home?
This is not entirely true. There are times when a child needs to be restrained for their safety. The conditions of restraint require training for the adult and for the distressed child to be in immediate physical danger or to be causing harm towards self/others. Typically restraints are done with two adults. And other avenues of de-escalation should be tried first. Restraints at nap time are completely inappropriate. Restraints done in this manner by untrained adults for obedience would likely be illegal. Shift the goal to be quiet time in a small area rather than forcing naps. With books or a small preferred toy on his mat. If the child needs/wants a nap, but needs physical pressure to do so, then you guys need to find a better method. Perhaps being tucked in snuggly or a weighted blanket with parental permission. Or pats on the back. Holding the child down is inappropriate.
A lightly weighted blanket helped my son sleep. He did so well that I got one for myself and I love it. My son has ADHD and his occupational therapist recommended this blanket.
I'm not an OT but from what I remember when talking to our OT about weighted items like vests or blankets is that the weighted item should be about 10% of the person's body weight and should be on for a shortish time period. So in class we'd only use a weighted vest for 30 minutes during the most challenging time of the day for the student- carpet time. A light weighted blanket is a nice sleep tool. It's a very calming pressure.
Your Director is completely wrong. And the coworker who is saying to wrap up this child like a burrito or the other coworker physically placing weight with her legs is not acceptable. Clearly your Director isn't implementing appropriate nap time protocols at all. Basically you know this is not right, your coworkers are continuing to harm this child and admin is turning a blind eye. It's your responsibility to report this to Licensing. If you are able to take photos and share with licensing (after making the report first), then that would be helpful, but it's not necessary. What is fully required is that you make the call to the licensing authorities today or submit a report online. You will never get in trouble for doing what's right, but you may be held accountable for not reporting this.
Yes, this stuff really shouldn’t be done/ should *only* be done if the kid wants burrito’d and can’t do it themselves, or just discovered they like weight and is requesting an arm/ leg over them and they can still easily move and get away if they want (zero restraint) and you’re just temp doing it while mom/ dad/ guardian is getting them something weighted in (and even then I’d be much quicker to use a hand on the back, or two hands, if possible, or then a gentle arm nor leg. But we did have a kiddo request this until she got a weighted blanket for at daycare because they couldn’t fall asleep without the weight. And we did have one request we help burrito wrap them up. But huge difference on kid request versus restraining them!)
I had kids in my class who preferred to be burritos some days and not on others, so I would ask them as I tucked them in "Do you want to be a burrito today?" And if so, I would make it a sweet routine and say silly things softly like "burrito! Burrito! Burrito toes!" As I tucked them all the way in. That way it was their choice and it was a pleasant exchange vs forcefully wrapping up a child. I also had kids who we discovered preferred weighted blankets and in the meantime, with parent permission and child, we would rest gentle hands or pat/apply slightly deeper pressure. I like this suggestion.
Mine will ask, "Teacher Jean, can you burrito me?" Then we discuss what kind of burrito they are while I do it. Sometimes, one will say they want to be a pizza, which means to just lay the blanket over them. Lol
I like to do, “making a baby burrito, baby burrito, I’m making a baby burrito!” (A carry over song from when I make my cat a kitty purrito/ hissy burrito) but I may steal that one to do too! I started it singing it when in the infant room, took it over to the toddlers that liked it, then back over to my babies, but I just love the sweet little routine of it 💕✨ And if I have two songs they can even choose which one they like and want to sing along with (for when I occasionally get to help with my tots!)
Please report this. This happened to my daughter at her school. My daughter w was reported by another teacher saying “please stop I won’t get up again “ Cps was called and the teacher was reported. The teacher who made the anonymous report was told by directors to not report- thankfully she still did.
Makes you wonder if the director is ever written up for this. Tell g staff not to report.
The center that my kid was at turns out had a TON of issues that no one was fixing, only hiding. A lot came out during the cps investigation. It’s one of the highest rated places in my area (second most expensive) The directors were absolutely trying to cover themselves. They also went to college with the teacher in question.
We have a child with similar issues and we just give him very very consistent options. Also, consider the child’s attendance since if they are having inconsistent nap procedures then it’s not developmentally appropriate to expect them to nap everyday and also not ok to restrain the child. Our child has a small weighted blanket which seems to help and they are given something to do on the mat like a pop-it or a book. They won’t stay on the mat? The pop-it or book goes away unless they sit with it quietly. It took a WHILE for him to understand the routine but there NEED to be consistent, respectful, and developmentally appropriate expectations for the child or they will never get it. Also, don’t pressure yourself too much. Take them to the director if you need to, switch off with a co teacher, do what you need to do but remember that if the child doesn’t feel respected or won’t understand what the expectations are because of inconsistency or inappropriate routine then it will always be a losing battle.
If a child refuses to nap like that at our centre, they are taken up to the teacher's office and handed over to the Assistant Director to take care of until they get tired enough to nap. She'll usually give them some quiet toys or a few books. Most of the little kids end up falling asleep on the couch after twenty minutes or so and she carries them back down to put them back in the nap room.
Nope, that's not okay at all. I also work in a 2-3 class, and absolutely kid's shouldn't be wrapped up so they're restrained and we shouldn't be forcefully holding them down like that. It is absolutely true that some children are helped by pressure. But the pressure shouldn't be restraining! A hand resting on their back instead of patting, for instance, works for some. Or a child appropriate weighted blanket, heavy enough to provide pressure but light enough that the child is able to get out from under it themselves. The weighted blankets especially I've noticed work well for children who actually are tired but just struggle to stay still. I have 2 kids in my classroom right now who play and get off their mats during rest time. I usually put them in opposite corners of the room with distance between themselves and other kids, along with some quiet toys (stuffed animals, dolls, puppets, books, etc). They are the very last kids we will sit with at nap, usually about 30 minutes into the rest time. This routine has helped a lot! It used to be almost impossible to get these 2 asleep. Now, they play quietly for 30 minutes and once a teacher comes to sit with them, they lie down and fall asleep relatively quickly. Nap doesn't have to be a battle! Sometimes, a child just needs a slower transition into rest. Also, sometimes nap time has become such a power struggle that children are too stressed out to sleep!
Do you know if he naps at home?
Or stays up all night making it so he doesn't need the nap. I simply refused to sleep because it (still to this day) takes 3-5 hours to fall asleep
Just a parent but maybe do soothing touches? Like make a pizza on his back or draw something and have him guess what it is? My mom would set a timer in another room and we had to close our eyes for 15/20 minutes and if we werent asleep we could get up and play quietly until my brother woke up.
This was me in pre-k, they eventually gave me a stack of papers and scented marks. Sometimes I drew potatoes with legs (potatoes were my favorite toy) but most the time I would just huff the lemon and blueberry marker. Try giving my something quiet to do. Or buy a weighted blanket.
This doesn’t sit right with me. Some children do like being wrapped up like a burrito, or want pressure on them but legs aren’t an appropriate thing to use for that. If he needs the pressure to calm down then something like a weighted blanket or one of those stretchy sleep sacks would be a lot better. But the holding down and crying is what I find really concerning because it sounds less like “kid needs help and pressure to regulate themselves and calm down and sleep” and more like “kid is being held in place and eventually gives in and sleeps because they’re helpless to do anything else and have exhausted themselves”. With this much trouble napping I would honestly be wanting to ask parents about how much sleep the kid is getting at night, and if the pressure thing is something he also needs at home.
My first thought was what would happen to that child if there were a need to evacuate quickly. He would f be able to move to get out of the room/building. That’s a massive safety concern and should NOT happen. Talk with his caregivers and see if he naps on the weekends or if he is done with naps. Some kids don’t need them earlier than others. Ask what his adults do if he does nap at home. How do they help him fall asleep? Is there a way to replicate that in the classroom? If he doesn’t nap, could you put him at a table or out of the way to do quiet activities? Have him have a quiet box of his own toys that stay in your room just for nap time? His being disruptive to the other kids isn’t lang but neither is restraining him.
This is not okay! We just did a training at my center, and the exact example they gave of an inappropriate situation at nap time was a teacher putting their leg over the child to get them to nap! I feel like there are two things going on here: 1) Teachers want all kids to nap, even when it’s clear they don’t want/need to. I get it! There are a lot of things to do in a day, and when kids don’t nap, it makes it harder for us! BUT we can’t force kids to nap just because it’s convenient for us! They can have books or quiet activities on their mat if they don’t sleep. They could even help the teacher(s) clean up from lunch. We need to do what’s best for the kids, not what’s best for us! 2) We don’t always want to take the time that some kids need to help them go to sleep. I used to have a child in my twos class that took a LONG time to fall asleep. He didn’t settle down easily so what I found worked best was sitting with him and taking quietly with him, reading a few books to him, and then eventually having him lay down and I would pat his back and he would fall asleep. One day another teacher was in with me at nap time and she just held him on the mat while he cried, and eventually, (out of exhaustion from crying I think) he did fall asleep, but what a horrible way to fall asleep. Who of us as adults doesn’t shift positions a little bit as we fall asleep? Kids are going to do the same! Only very young infants should be swaddled. If we know a child does usually take a nap, it’s okay to try to get them to go to sleep, but not by any means necessary.
Try turning the mat in the other direction. If all mats are north-south turn that child's mat east-west with head up by the wall. As far from the door as possible. It worked in several daycares that I worked at while going to school.
this sounds like it could be my old center. We had a little boy in the 2’s class that would do the same thing and I was directed to and all the other employees would roll him up snuggly in his blanket and place a leg over his while patting his back. He actually was receptive to this, he wouldn’t crying or be upset, and would usually end up fall asleep. If the child is crying or visibly upset and thrashing, you should find a different method of keeping him on his cot and at the least resting his body.
Hmmm mixed thoughts because typically I'd recommend bringing this child to do other activities during nap time if they're outgrowing it, but if somehow with all this crazy stuff they are managing to get him to nap, I'm going to assume his body actually really does need the rest and his brain is just very busy. I do like the burrito idea. Really depends how much distress this is causing for kiddo and if that's genuine distress or "I don't wanna go to bed but I'm tired" kind.
At my daycare we had 3 or 4 children who didn’t nap (2 of the parents requested they aren’t allowed to nap because they don’t go to bed until super late if they nap at daycare) So my supervisor created a plan that would allow a staff to take the busy awake children to the outside playground (right beside the classroom) to sing songs, colour with chalk, play with balls etc The only rule is no loud toys like musical toys(drums, bicycles with bells and no screaming/shouting because other classrooms are napping as well) This worked well for a while until some of these children were falling asleep at the snack table from being so exhausted and we’d have to keep them awake until the parents arrived but sometimes if they fell asleep when the parents came the parents usually just shrugged it off and said “he/she must’ve needed a little extra sleep!” Then they wake them up and they go on their way For your situation, we had one child similar to yours where they would grab whatever is around them and start throwing toys (almost hitting other sleeping children) and that’s how the outside play group formed because it was putting other children in danger and was also too overwhelming for staff in the sleep room but we talked with the parents first and came up with the idea together. Have you spoken to the parents of this child? There could be some information about home life that might help you entertain or help this child sleep a little easier Edited to add: I forgot to mention the same child throwing toys and jumping around, we created a “quiet busy book” for them and that worked wonderfully for them because everyday we’d add a new page but their favourite was a sticky file folder page where they could collect outside things to “study and decorate” so they had twigs, tiny stones, dandelions etc and they could use them for art/craft time once everyone was awake (and it was craft time) After introducing this busy book this child was napping for 30- 1 hour which Mom said had greatly improved the nighttime sleeping because the full 2 hour naps at daycare were not working for them at home.
Do finger trails along their arm or back — it is very soothing and after 10-15 most go to sleep.
I had a kiddo in my twos class who didn’t nap. She was given little tasks to help us, like folding the clothes in the dress up bin. sorting materials for afternoon projects, choosing which of her photos to send her mom in the app, etc.
while i think all children benefit from naps (i really don’t think people can grow out of rest time, i think everyone needs a rest period throughout the day), i never ever would hold my students down. i don’t even let my teachers sit with them because if you have to do all of that then clearly the child is not going to sleep, you shouldn’t have to force it. i’d try quiet activities which is what i do with my preks who don’t typically nap (although they almost all do) a book, quiet coloring, or a puzzle or just laying on their cot with a calm down toy (pop it, or other fidget toys). we also play this music that has a visual background of fish and turtles and stuff swimming, and a lot of our higher energy kids wil doze off just watching the fish swim
We have two kids who never nap. They know to stay on their cots and play or rest quietly! We don’t force naps period
I NEVER forced my children to nap. Barbaric.
This is wrong on all levels... And HAS to stop! Those poor babies 😭 they will get themselves so stressed and worked up, it's not right! You must report it